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Connecticut Colony History
"Connecticut derives its name from its principal river, called by the
Indians Quonehtacut, and which, in their language, signified "the
long river."
Robert, Earl of Warwick, was the first proprietary of the territory, under a
grant in 1630 from the Plymouth Council.
It was next held by Lords Say and Seal, and Lord Brooke, and others, to whom
the Earl transferred it to 1631. The grant included that part of New England
which extends from the Narragansett river, one hundred and twenty miles on a
straight line southwest to the coast, from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Pacific. This is the original patent of Connecticut.
During this latter year, Mr. Winslow, Governor of Plymouth, at the instance
of Wahquimacut, a sachem near the Connecticut, visited the river, and the
fertile valley through which it passes, and, after his return, decided to
take measures to commence a settlement on its banks.
Meanwhile, the Dutch at New York, who had become acquainted with the river
about the same time, intending to anticipate the people of Plymouth, built a
fort at Hartford in 1633, and placed two cannon there. In October that year,
William Holmes, who commanded the Plymouth Expedition, proceeded in a vessel
for Connecticut, bearing a commission from the Governor of Plymouth, to
build a fort for themselves. On reaching the Dutch fort, Holmes was
forbidden to proceed, at the hazard of being blown to pieces; but, being a
man of spirit, he coolly informed the garrison that he had a commission from
the Governor of Plymouth to go up the river, and that he should go. They
poured
out their threats, but he proceeded, and landing on the west side of the
river, erected his house below the mouth of the a tributary river, at
Windsor. The house was erected with the utmost dispatch, and fortified with
palisades. The Dutch, considering Holmes and his men intruders, sent, the
next year, a band of seventy men to drive them from the country; but finding
them strongly posted, they did not proceed.
In the autumn of 1635, a company, consisting of sixty men,
women and children, from the settlements of Newtown and Watertown, in
Massachusetts, commenced their journey through the wilderness to the
Connecticut River. On their arrival, they settled at Windsor,
Wethersfield, and Hartford. They commenced their journey on
October 25th; but, due to the wilderness spread before them being filled
with swamps, rivers, hills, and mountains, they took a great deal of time
passing the rivers, and in getting their cattle over them, that, after all
their exertions, winter came upon them before they were completely prepared.
By November 25th, the Connecticut River was frozen over, the
snow was deep, and the season so tempestuous, that a considerable number of
the cattle driven from Massachusetts could not be brought across the river,
and a considerable number perished. The loss of the Windsor settlers, in
cattle, was estimated at almost two hundred pounds sterling in value. The
sufferings of the people for want of food during the winter, were often
severe. After all the help they were able to obtain from hunting and the
Indians, they were forced to subsist on only acorns, malt, and grains.
During the same month in which the emigrants commenced their
journey to Connecticut, John Winthrop, son of the Governor of Massachusetts,
arrived at Boston with a commission as Governor of Connecticut, under Lords
Say and Seal, and Lord Brook, the proprietors, and with authority to erect a
fort at the mouth of the Connecticut Rive. Accordingly, soon after his
arrival, he dispatched a bark of thirty tons, with twenty men, to take
possession of the Connecticut River, and to build a fort at its mouth. This
was accordingly erected, and called Saybrook Fort, as the . settlement was
called Saybrook Colony, and which continued independent until 1644. A
few days after their arrival, a. Dutch vessel from New Netherlands (New
York) appeared, to take possession of the river; but, as the English had
already mounted two cannon, their landing was prevented.
The next June, 1636, the Reverend Messrs. Hooker and Stone,
with a number of settlers from Dorchester and Watertown, moved to
Connecticut. With no guide but a compass, they made their way one hundred
miles, over mountains and through swamps and rivers. Their journey, which
was on foot, lasted a fortnight, during which they lived upon the milk of
their cows. They drove one hundred and sixty cattle. This party chiefly
settled at Hartford. Mr. Hooker and Mr. Stone became the pastors of
the church in that place, and were both eminent men and ministers.
The year 1637 is remarkable in the history of Connecticut,
for a war with the Pequots, a tribe of Indians, whose principal settlement
was in the present town of Groton. Prior to this time, the Pequots had
frequently annoyed the infant colony, and in several instances had killed
some of its inhabitants. In March of this year, the commander of Saybrook
Fort, with twelve men, was attacked by them, and three of his party killed.
In April, another portion of this tribe assaulted the people of
Wethersfield, as they were going to labor in their fields, and killed six
men and three women. Two girls were taken captive by them, and twenty cows
were killed. In this perilous state of the colony, a court was summoned at
Hartford, on May 11th. After mature deliberation, it was determined that war
should be commenced against the Pequots. Ninety men, nearly half the able
men of the colony, were ordered to be raised; forty-two from Hartford,
thirty from Windsor, and eighteen from Wethersfield.
With these troops, together with seventy river and Mohegan
Indians, Captain Mason, to whom the command of the expedition was given,
sailed down the Connecticut River to Saybrook. Here a plan of operations was
formed, and agreeably to which, on June 5th, about the dawn of day, Captain
Mason surprised one of the principal forts of the enemy, in a place called
Mystic, and now the present town of Stonington. On their near approach to
the fort, a dog barked, and an Indian, now discovering them, cried out, "Oh
wanux! Oh wanux!," or, Englishmen! Englishmen!
The troops instantly pressed forward and fired. The
destruction of the enemy soon became terrible; but they rallied at length,
and made a brave resistance. After a severe and protracted conflict, Captain
Mason and his troops being nearly exhausted, and victory still doubtful, he
cried out to his men, "We must burn them!" At the same instant, seizing a
firebrand, he applied it to a wigwam. The flames spread rapidly on every
side; and as the sun rose upon the scene, it showed the work of destruction
to be complete. Seventy wigwams were in ruins, and between five and six
hundred Indians lay bleeding on the ground, or smoldering in the ashes.
[This event later became known as the Mystic Indian Massacre.]
But, though the victory was complete, the troops were now in
great distress. Besides two killed, sixteen of their number were wounded.
Their surgeon, medicines and provisions, were upon some vessels, on their
way to Pequot harbor, now New London. While consulting what should be done
in this emergency, how great was their joy to desern their vessels were
sailing directly towards the harbor, under a prosperous wind! And soon
after, a detachment of nearly two hundred men from Massachusetts and
Plymouth, arrived to assist in prosecuting the war.
Sassacus, the great sachem of the Pequots, and his warriors, were so
appalled at the destruction of their fort, that they fled towards the Hudson
River. The troops pursued them as far as a great swamp in Fairfield, where
another action took place, in which the Indians were entirely vanquished.
This was followed by a treaty with the remaining Pequots, about two hundred
in number, agreeably to which they were divided among the Narragansetts and
Mohegans. Thus terminated a conflict, which, for a time, was eminently
distressing to the colonies. This event of peace was celebrated, throughout
New England, by a day of thanksgiving and praise.
During the expedition against the Pequots, the English
became acquainted with Quinipiac, or New Haven; and the next year, in 1638,
the settlement of that town was commenced. This, and the adjoining towns,
soon after settled, were distinguished by the name of Colony of New Haven.
Among the founders of this colony, which was the fourth in
New England, was Mr. John Davenport, for some time a distinguished minister
in London. To avoid the indignation of the persecuting Archbishop Laud, he
fled, in 1633, to Holland. Hearing, while in exile, of the prosperity of the
New England settlements, he planned a removal to America. On his return to
England, Mr. Theophilus Eaton, an eminent merchant in London, with Mr.
Hopkins, afterwards Governor of Connecticut, and several others, determined
to accompany him. They arrived in Boston in June, 1637.
Though the most advantageous offer were made by the
government of Massachusetts, to choose any place within their jurisdiction,
they preferred a place without the limits of the existing colonies.
Accordingly, they fixed upon New Haven as the place of their: future
residence; and on the 28th of April they kept their first Sabbath in the
place, under, a large oak tree, where Mr. Davenport preached to them.
The following year, on January 24th 1639, the three towns on
the Connecticut River, Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield,
finding themselves outside the limits of the Massachusetts patent, assembled
their freemen at Hartford, and formed themselves into a distinct
commonwealth, and adopted a constitution. This constitution, which has been
much admired, and which,. for more than a century and a half, underwent
little alteration, ordained that there should annually be two general
assemblies; one in April, and the other in September. In April, the officers
of government were to be elected by the freemen, and to consist of a
governor, deputy-governor, and five or six assistants. The towns were to
send deputies to the general assemblies. Under this constitution, the first
governor was John Haynes, and Roger Ludlow the first deputy-governor.
The example of the colony of Connecticut, in forming a
constitution, was followed, the next June, by the Colony of New Haven.
The planters assembled in a large barn. Among other rules, it was
established that none but church members should vote, or be elected to
office; that all the freemen of the colony should annually assemble and
elect its officers; and that the word of God should be the only rule for
ordering the affairs of the commonwealth.
In October following, the government was organized, when Mr.
Eaton was chosen governor. To this office he was annually elected until his
death in 1657. No other of the New England colonies was so much
distinguished for good order and tranquility as the colony of New Haven. Her
principal men were eminent for their wisdom and integrity, and directed the
affairs of the colony with so much prudence, that she was seldom disturbed
by divisions within, or by aggressions from the Indians from without. Having
been bred to mercantile employments, the first settlers belonging to this
colony were inclined to engage in commercial pursuits; but in these they
sustained several severe losses, and, among those, a new ship of one hundred
and fifty tons was lost at sea in 1647, and which was freighted with a
valuable cargo, and with seamen and passengers from many of the best
families in the colony aboard. This loss discouraged, for a time, their
commercial pursuits, and engaged their attention more particularly in the
employments of agriculture.
The Dutch at New Netherlands early proved themselves
troublesome neighbors to the Connecticut Colonies. Besides claiming the soil
as far east as the Connecticut River, they plundered the property of
settlers adjoining their territory, instigated the Indians to hostilities,
supplied them with arms, and otherwise disturbed their pence. These were
among the causes which induced these colonies to Unite with the other New
England colonies in the memorable
confederacy of 1643.
In 1644, the little colony of Saybrook, which until
now had been independent, was united with Connecticut; she having purchased
the soil and jurisdiction of George Fenwick, one of the proprietors, for
about two thousand pounds.
In 1650, Governor Stuyvesant concluded a treaty of amity and
partition, at Hartford, between the Dutch and English. By this treaty the
former relinquished all claim to the territory, except the land which they
then occupied. A divisional line was also established, and pledges exchanged
to abide in peace.
The harmony of the two people, however, was not of long
duration. A war broke out in 1652 between England and Holland, taking
advantage of which, and notwithstanding his pledge, Stuyvesant, it was
understood, was plotting to overthrow the English. Ninigret, the famous
sachem of. the Narragansetts, and the wily and implacable enemy of the
colonies, spent the winter of 1652-3 in New York with the Dutch governor.
The colonies became alarmed.
A meeting of the commissioners was convened, and a majority
decided upon war against the Dutch; but, Massachusetts, refusing to furnish
her quota, had prevented hostilities. Connecticut and New Haven, indignant
at the course pursued by Massachusetts, applied to Cromwell for aid, then
Protector of England, and, in 1654, four or five ships were dispatched to
reduce the Dutch. Peace, however, was concluded between Holland and England
before the fleet arrived, During this year the Legislature of Connecticut
sequestered the Dutch houses, land, and property of all kinds, at Hartford,
at which time the latter prosecuted no further claims in New England.
Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, after which,
Connecticut, expressing her loyalty, applied for a charter. It was in the
king's heart to deny her request; but, providentially, as it were, her
agent, Governor Winthrop, went about to urge her petition, and presented to
the Monarch a ring which had belonged to Charles I, and by him had been
given to his grandfather. This act of courtesy so won the heart of the king,
that he not only gave a liberal charter to the colony, but confirmed the
very constitution which the people had adopted. The date of this charter was
May 30th, I662. Under this the people of Connecticut lived and flourished
until the adoption of the present constitution in 1818, for a period of one
hundred and fifty-six years.
This charter included New Haven, and most of the territory
of Rhode Island. But the former utterly refused to be united, and
this opposition persisted until 1665, when a reluctant consent was obtained,
and the two were made one. In 1663, Charles conferred a charter on Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations, which, however, as it included a portion
of territory already granted to Connecticut, laid the foundation for a
controversy between the two colonies, which lasted nearly sixty years.
From the calamities of
King Philip's War, in 1675,
involving the New England Colonies, Connecticut was comparatively exempted;
yet, she promptly responded to demands made upon her for aid in that dark
period of New England history. Her captains were brave, and her soldiers
unyielding, in the terrible swamp-fight with the Narragansetts, on December
29th 1675. Connecticut's troops suffered more than those of either
Massachusetts or Plymouth, and were compelled to return home.
On December 30th 1686, Sir Edmund Andros, "glittering in
scarlet and lace," landed at Boston, as Governor of all New England. In the
autumn of 1687, Andros, attended by some of his council, and a guard of
sixty troops, went to Hartford, and entering the House of Assembly, then in
session, demanded the charter of Connecticut, and declared the colonial
government be dissolved. Reluctant to surrender the charter, the assembly
protracted its debates until evening, when the charter was brought in and
laid on the table. Upon a pre-concerted signal, the lights were at once
extinguished, and a Captain Wadsworth, seized the charter, and hastened it
away, under cover of night, and secreted it in the hollow of an oak. [This
tree eventually became known as the Charter Oak, and a bridge across the
Connecticut River named for it at Hartford.] The candles, which bad been
extinguished, were soon re-lighted, without disorder; but the charter had
disappeared. Sir Edmund Andros, however, assumed the government, which was
administered in his name, until the dethronement of James II, in 1689, and
the elevation of the Prince of Orange, as William III.
On this event, Connecticut, spurning the government which
Andros had appointed, and "which," an 1800s historian says, "they had always
feared it was a sin to obey," The secreted charter was taken from its hiding
place, May 19th, "discolored, but not effaced." The assembly was convened,
and the records of the colony were once more opened.
Not long after, another encroachment upon the rights of the
colony was attempted and nobly resisted. In 1692, Colonel Fletcher was
appointed Governor of New York, with a commission to take command of the
militia of Connecticut. As this was a power which the charter had reserved
to the colony, the demand of the colonel was denied. In the autumn of 1693,
Fletcher went to Hartford, intending to enforce his commission. The
legislature was in session. The demand was repeated, and refused. The
Hartford companies were then ordered to assemble, before which Fletcher
directed his commission to be read.
But presently nothing could be heard but the noise of the
drums, which Captain Wadsworth, the senior officer of the companies,
commanded to be beaten. "Silence!" exclaimed Fletcher, and Wadsworth's aid
exclaimed, "Drum, drum, I say!" Fletcher repeated, "Silence!" and Wadsworth
cried, "Drum, drum!" Wadsworth turned to Fletcher, upon whom his eyes
glared with fire and indignation, adding, "Sir, if I am interrupted again, I
will make the sun shine through you in a moment!" This was enough. The crest
of the haughty colonel instantly fell, and soon after he departed for New
York. On a representation of the affair to the king, he decided that the
command of the militia, in time of peace, should be with the governor; but,
in case of war, a determinate number should be placed under the orders of
Fletcher.
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